Gillis family

The Gillis family was an American family of eight who traveled the world in a covered wagon in the 1960s. The family consisted of father Leon Gillis (1920–2010[1]), mother Iyone Gillis (1923–2015[2]), and their six children: Lee Ann, Janet, Susie, Barbara, Allen, and George.[3][4]

In 1961–62, starting from their home in Virginia, Leon led the family on a coast-to-coast covered wagon journey, in the "Last Wagon West." In 1963–64, the Gillis family took their wagon to Europe, traveling from France, to a Dutch visit with Freddy Heineken, through Minsk[5] to Moscow, living by dint of their wits and the generosity of strangers. These journeys were covered in various local media[6] as well as Newsweek,[7] Life magazine,[8] Soviet Life,[9] the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant,[10] and on network television from prime time news to The Ed Sullivan Show, the Today Show, and the television program To Tell the Truth,[4][11] and Soviet film Beloved (Любимая).[12]

References
  1. "Leon Hilton Gillis". horne funeral service. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  2. "Gillis, Iyone Koland". Roanoke Times. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  3. Kittredge, Kevin (June 20, 1993). "West in a Wagon". Roanoke Times – via Virginia Tech Libraries.
  4. "Christiansburg woman wants to preserve family story - Roanoke.com". www.roanoke.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  5. "1964 Last Wagon West in Minsk" YouTube, retrieved 2022-11-12
  6. "Gillis family traveled the old-fashioned way - Roanoke.com". www.roanoke.com. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  7. "Newsweek". Newsweek. 1 January 1962. Retrieved 27 September 2016 – via Google Books.
  8. "LIFE". Time Inc. 6 November 1964. Retrieved 27 September 2016 – via Google Books.
  9. "Soviet Life". Embassy of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics in the USA. 1 January 1965. Retrieved 27 September 2016 – via Google Books.
  10. "1964 October 23 TASS, anonymous photographer. Leon Gillis family in covered wagon in USSR". 18 April 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  11. "I traveled cross-country in a covered wagon!". To Tell the Truth. February 11, 1963. CBS – via YouTube.
  12. "Любимая (1965, романтический фильм, полная версия)". YouTube. 2011-06-02. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
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